Morning Brief: US tariffs on imported auto parts could hit consumers

What to watch today

On Thursday, the economic schedule brings investors the weekly report on initial jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed’s July reading on manufacturing activity.

And on the earnings side, notable companies expected to report results include Dow members Microsoft (MSFT) and Travelers (TRV), as well as Bank of New York Mellon (BK), Capital One (COF), Philip Morris (PM), and Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB).

Microsoft’s earnings will likely serve as the day’s highlight, as the stock has seen a 22% year-to-date gain to trade just below a record high. Wall Street analysts are looking for the company to report earnings per share of $1.08 on revenue of $29.2 billion, according to estimates from Bloomberg.

Top news

REUTERS/Mike Blake

US auto tariffs may raise cost: A threat by the U.S. government to impose tariffs of up to 25% on imported auto parts could hit consumers in unexpected ways: higher repair costs, insurance premiums and even the theft of more cars for their parts, the industry said. President Donald Trump’s administration has launched an investigation into whether auto imports pose a national security threat and threatened to slap the tariffs on cars from the European Union and elsewhere. [Reuters]

IBM answers some doubters with revenue growth: IBM may have won back some investors’ trust after posting renewed sales growth and saying its cloud business is performing well. Revenue gained 2%, adjusted for currency fluctuations, to $20 billion in the second quarter, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) said Wednesday in a statement. Analysts estimated $19.9 billion. [Bloomberg]

EBay revenue misses: EBay Inc. (EBAY) missed analysts’ estimates for second-quarter revenue on Wednesday, as its online ticket marketplace StubHub had a disappointing quarter, leading the e-commerce website to forecast underwhelming third-quarter results. The company’s shares were down about 5% at $36 after the bell. [Reuters]

New York state opens probe into Trump charity, NYT says: New York is investigating whether the Donald J. Trump Foundation violated state tax laws, an inquiry that could lead to a criminal referral for possible prosecution, the New York Times reported. The paper said it appeared likely that the inquiry may cover some of the same issues raised by the New York attorney general, Barbara Underwood, in a lawsuit filed against the Trump Foundation in June. [Bloomberg]

Zuckerberg walks back defense of Holocaust deniers: Facebook Inc. (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg walked back comments that appeared to defend Holocaust deniers, after trying to explain how careful the social-media giant tries to be before kicking people off the social network. He ended up using as an example of a group that garners little sympathy. [Bloomberg]

In this photo provided by Blue Origin, The booster of the New Shepard rocket prepares to land in a project called Mission 9 (M9) in western Texas on Wednesday, July 18, 2018. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket company shot a capsule higher into space Wednesday than it’s ever done before. (Blue Origin via AP)